


Shock of Lightning

by PastyPirate



Series: My Yesterday was Blue, Today I'm a Part of You [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, References to Sex, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, piper centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:35:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6412921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastyPirate/pseuds/PastyPirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper didn't expect that her first meeting with her soulmate would be when she's trying to get the assault charges against him lifted, but she also didn't think she'd ever find her soulmate. So there's that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shock of Lightning

“So? Can you make it?” Leo’s voice was hopeful and tinny over over the line, Piper winced. 

“I really want to but-” there there was there was a shuffling on the other end of the line and Piper winced again, sinking deeper into the couch. 

“Piper? It's Jason, Leo says you're dead to him.” She could hear the smile in his voice and her heart did a little dance in her chest. 

“I'm sorry! It's this internship! Tell him I'm very sorry-” 

“He says he’s been in a mega awesome cool band- his words not mine- for three months and his bestest friend can't make the effort to get out of work to drag her booty- again his words not mine- to go to and bar for two hours to see him play.” The laughter in Jason’s tone was bleeding through his stern words. 

“I know! I'm so sorry! I do make all my coworkers listen and I play the video on repeat-”

“He says you only play the video on repeat because he gets smacked in the face by a dodgeball,” the laughter is no longer concealed, and Piper winced again looking down a her laptop screen which is paused in the image of Leo getting whacked in the face.

“Truth.” Annabeth says from next to her loud enough that Jason can hear her.

“Leo want to remind you that- dude I'm not saying that- okay fine- he wants to remind you that Annabeth came to see see us perform and got laid.” Jason sounds like a defeated man, parroting what Leo said, that her smile is back, along with a flutter in her heart. She can hear Percy shout “yeah she did!” in the background. 

“Is Leo implying that I'll meet my soulmate by going to see you guys perform?” She twisted her ring and leaned forward.

“He said yes - wait you haven't met your soulmate yet?” Jason’s voice had a weird kind of lilt that made her heart step up its flutter into a ragtime step.

“No, I haven't,” Piper isn't sure what she hated more the fact that her finger went straight to her hair to curl it like an excited school girl or that Annabeth caught her. 

Annabeth arched an eyebrow as she looked up from her work, Piper tugged her finger out of her hair. 

“Listen, tell Leo that after this internship -which may I remind him, helps battered bonded people and people in violent domestic relationships - I will make it up to him! I will be a roadie on his next tour okay? I will see you all perform before you leave new york again.” 

Piper was about to continue to point out that they were the ones who instantly went off to tour a few weeks after Leo joined when she hears Percy shout from the other-side of the van. “What’s Annabeth wearing?” 

Piper looked at Annabeth and grinned widely, Annabeth was wearing a t-shirt and shorts along with a vaguely annoyed look on her face. 

“She’s wearing La Perla.” Piper lied, leaning away as Annabeth swiped half heartedly at the phone.

"Ah come on, I'm not saying that,” there was another scuffle complete with muted swearing and someone hissing “dude you’re _driving_ ” on the other end of the line until it abruptly shut off. 

“Those boys.” Piper dropped her phone next to her, “And Hazel.” 

“Someone has a crush,” Annabeth pointed out, as simply as she would if she was pointing out the weather was good. 

“No!” Piper said too loudly, “Okay maybe a little. But it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who dates before bonding.”

“Are you the kind of girl who dates before bonding?” Annabeth’s voice wa edged with shock.

“Well, not for a subpar guy but I dunno, Jason is cute and he has this sense of humor that- I don’t know! I’m twenty-two and I’ve never even kissed a guy before. I feel like I’m never going to meet my soulmate and I just want to- I don't know.” Piper slid off the couch and dropped her head on to the coffee table, “everything sucks and nothing makes sense.” 

“Aw honey,” Annabeth said, which sounded more out of place than Hazel swearing. 

“It’s okay, I mean it’s fine. I know I shouldn’t, I don’t want to get emotionally attached to someone just to have my soulmate come along. I don’t want there to be a Demi song about me, but living with you and Percy just makes me feel-” she shrugged, her shoulder hitting the coffee table, “my dad never found a soulmate and what if I never find a soulmate?”

“Hazel’s mom found her soulmate at thirty-five-”

“Please do not compare me to Hazel’s mom-”

“I’m just saying! I think that if you’re interested in Jason you should go for it,” Annabeth shrugged, “I mean, he might not be in the same boat as you- his mom really did a number on him- but maybe he is.” 

“Are you telling me that I miss 100% of the shots that I don’t take?” Piper looked up at Annabeth, and Annabeth just grinned again. 

“It’s the truth though.” Annabeth’s phone vibrated, she turned to look at it and sighed before shutting her laptop and standing up, “now excuse me while I go convince Percy that I’m not wearing La Perla.”

“Good luck buddy!” 

Annabeth’s only response was a middle finger as she walked into her room.

________________________________________

Since she couldn’t attend the “Triumphant Return” show, she did her best to post about it on FaceBook and convince the few friends she had who lived in the city to go. She also played the album on spotify again, just to be that much more supportive. Her dark closet at the precinct is always a little depressing, so the music cheered her up as she did her homework.

 

The night always started slow, it wasn't until the late hours that people would come to her for advice. 

The hours slipped into each other sluggishly and studying couldn't grip piper’s attention when she was awake let alone when she was struggling to keep her eyes open. 

“Coffee!” She decided resolutely, slapping her hands against the table and standing up. 

The station had a jar of sludge at most hours of the night, but a kind officer brought in a carafe of dunkin’ donuts coffee that had gone cold. She figured that was better than nothing and the cold would do better than hot to keep her awake. 

She checked her phone, she saw one message from Annabeth that just said _Drew is here and she’s all over Jason. Jason politely shut her down._ The message made her grin until her phone rang. 

“Hey Drew,” Piper pulled in her emotions, and did her best not to gloat like an idiot. 

“Hey girl! It’s been forever!” Piper couldn’t help but roll her eyes, _It’s been forever because we hate each other._ Drew was the main reason Piper regretted ever rushing a sorority, Drew was the reason that Piper never wore her letters after graduation. The difference between Drew and Piper, was that Piper was okay with open animosity and Drew just maintained that they were frenemys. 

“Yeah, it must seem like eternity since you were sent to hell,” it’s not her best line, but Piper did a little fist pump anyways. 

“Well, I hear that you know _Demi_ ” Drew steamrolled Piper’s comment, and for a moment, Piper wondered why Drew was even reaching out to her, in college Drew would’ve died before asking Piper for advice.

“Not really well, I know some members-”

“Well your roommate is here and she’s practically clinging to the lead singer.” 

Piper knew full well that Annabeth and Percy weren’t fans of PDA. They were probably holding hands or sitting next to each other. “Yeah, but I haven’t met most of the band. Just the singer and the bass player, why?”

“Well I just wanted to make sure, I mean, I was talking to Jason - the one who plays guitar?- and he happened to mention that he knew someone who was in our sorority and I was wondering if you knew who he was talking about. He seemed smitten.” 

Piper thought back to the previous week, when Leo passed the phone off to Jason so he could focus on something. Piper was bored at work and she talked to Jason for an hour about their respective college lives and how weird being graduated was. She mentioned Alpha Phi Rho at some point, but she never dwelled on it. Piper took a second, listening to the music in the background. It sounded like a _Demi_ song and Drew seemed to have stepped outside to interrogate Piper. Which was ridiculous, if Piper was there she’d be listening to their music.

“Can’t help you buddy,” Piper grinned, “I gotta go, bye!” 

She hung up, pressing the end call button with satisfaction. She slid her phone into her pocket, and figured it would be a few hours before she could rely on Annabeth for entertainment. 

Instead she puttered around her office, straightening up the paperwork, before walking around and annoying the night shift detectives into talking to her. 

If she expected to turn around and find Leo standing there with a black eye, she still would’ve been surprised. 

“Fuck! Leo!” 

“No, no no, you do not get to fuck leo.” Leo said with a grin before his face shifted, “Okay so maybe Jason is being charged with assault and now’s not the time to make jokes.”

“Did he assault you?” Piper isn’t quick to rage, but the sudden need to pummel something for bruising her best friend is a tidal wave raising in her. 

“No! Don’t be ridiculous! He assaulted someone else and it started a bar fight. You should see Percy- anyways I figured we’d need legal counsel.” Leo shrugged and Piper panicked slightly. 

“I’m not even a lawyer yet! I start law school in a month!” She groaned loudly and Leo just shrugged again, “okay I’ll see what I can do.”

She spun around and flagged down one of the beat cops, “Um is there a Jason Grace in lockup?”

“No, but there’s a Jason Jupiter in one of the interrogation rooms,” Piper turned to Leo as the cop walked away. 

“Jason Jupiter? As in Jupiter Records?” Piper had heard of Jupiter Records simply by turning on the radio and existing. They were an ubiquitous label, to be picked up by Jupiter Records was to be picked up by the top charts themselves. 

“Yeah?” Leo responded, shrugging. 

“Why the hell did you have such a hard time finding a record label if he’s from Jupiter Records?” Piper stepped around Leo and started walking towards the holding cells. 

“Well, he goes by the last name of his crazed mother who he was emancipated from at four for a reason Piper. Please read between the lines here.” Which was fair enough, she shrugged and started walking towards the interrogation rooms.

“Alright, let’s get this shit sorted out.” 

She talked the beat cops into letting her talk to her friends who were apparently being held in an interrogation room due to lack of space in the actual holding cell. She cut through the observation room to get to the entrance, and she could see Jason leaning forward to talk to Percy -who did look worse than Leo-as Annabeth sat between them looking more inconvenienced than upset. 

All three of them were handcuffed to the table. 

“What the hell you guys!” Piper said by way of introduction, bursting through the door. She shot a glare at Percy and Annabeth, “I leave you alone for one night and-”

Piper made the mistake of looking at Jason. 

Blue eyes stared into her own and it was like she was being covered in lightning bolts. Jolts of energy running through her as she stood there, gaping at him like she was seeing a hurricane and was helpless to stop it. The lightning shot to her arm, tingles radiating up and down it as she knew a name was appearing on it. She looked down at Jason’s arm, held out by the handcuffs and saw black ink rise to the surface, until _PIPER MCLEAN_ was on his arm in her bubbly letters. 

“Hi,” Jason sounds like he’s been punched in the stomach, and suddenly all Piper can see is the tilt of his mouth and a small scar on his lip. 

“Hi.” She breathed back, a war going on behind her head. 

“Um, not that this isn’t super romantic or anything, but we are currently _handcuffed to a table_ ” Percy interjected, and Piper shook her head. 

“Right! Okay, tell me what happened!” 

“Can’t they use it against us?” Percy eyed the mirror suspiciously. 

“That’s not how that works babe.” Annabeth said calmly, patting his hand. 

“I punched Octavian in the face.” Piper appreciates the truth, but she hates how Jason admitting casual violence in a bashful voice fills her with pride. 

“Octavian, that’s the-”

“Embarrassment to white people? Yes.” Percy cuts in. 

“No I mean he’s-”

“Wants to be Eminem but is actually Vanilla Ice? Again yes.” 

Piper nodded, “Okay I know what to do.”

She spun around to leave the room but Jason called out, “Wait! Don’t you want to know why I punched him?”

“Was it because he calls himself a Prophet? That’s why I wanted to punch him.” Percy muttered under his breath, before Annabeth patted his hand again. 

“No, I’ll get your super villain monologue later. I’m going to go deal with this now.” Piper walked out of the room, letting the door slam behind her. 

It wasn’t like she was expecting a romantic first meeting. Meeting soulmates was rarely romantic. In movies characters had meet-cutes all over the place. In the real world two people reached for the same tube of toothpaste and ended up having six kids. 

But she hadn’t expected to know her soulmate ahead of time, she hadn’t expected to walk in on him handcuffed to a table. 

She hadn’t expected to already _like_ her soulmate. 

It should be an easy pill to swallow, instead it’s lodged in her throat somewhere. 

She spots Octavian, the wild eyed blond haired guy who looks to have a decapitated teddy bear on his belt. His pants are baggy and his shirt is a knock off jersey. But she knows for a fact that he went to a prep school in Westchester because she recognized him from the year she almost went to Camp Jupiter before running away to go back to Camp Half. 

“Detective Wells?” Piper put on her sweetest voice for the old detective who was taking Octavian’s account, “may I speak with Mr. Octavian for a moment-”

“Call me Mr. Legacy!” The boy squeaks, and Piper resisted the urge to shoot him a glare. 

“I don’t know if-”

“Thanks bye!” Piper’s voice is so sickly sweet she could poison an elephant. The detective gets up and waddles away, leaving her to slide into his chair. 

“Hey honey-”

“Shh, you’re going to drop all the charges, and you’re going to get your crew-” she cast a glance over to the beefy guys who were bruised and battered, waiting around, “- to drop charges as well.”

“What makes you think I’m going to do that?” Octavian asked, raising an eyebrow and placing a hand on his teddy bear. 

“You’re pressing charges against Zeus Jupiter’s son.” 

The cocky look melted away and only shock remained. She bet that Octavian had no idea that Jason didn’t get along with his dad. He only knew how notoriously possessive Zeus could be of his many children. 

“Yeah, that’s right. Zeus Jupiter’s son, any moment he could get on the phone and say ‘Hey pops, this rapper just pressed charges against me’ and do you know what would happen to the rapper that pressed charges against Zeus Jupiter’s son?” Piper paused for a effect, Octavian’s mouth opening and closing like a fish for a split second. 

“ _Nothing_ would happen to the rapper who pressed charges Zeus Jupiter’s son. That rapper would never release an LP that isn’t bogged down in litigation, wouldn’t release a single that could be bought on itunes, that rapper couldn’t so much as stand outside of a rap battle without Zeus Jupiter knowing about it and stopping it. So you’re going to drop all the charges.” 

She patted Octavian on the hand and stood up, sending a wave to Detective Wells before walking over to Leo, Hazel and Nico in the waiting area. 

“Jason isn’t going to like that you name dropped his dad.” Nico crossed his arms, looking more like a ghost in a black t-shirt then an amazing Pianist. 

“Yeah, well it’s going to resolve this situation quickly and effectively. You must be Nico,” Nico lifted a hand in a half raise, so Piper turned to Hazel, “and you’re Hazel.”

“Hello!” Hazel smiled, unlike her brother, and extended a hand for Piper to shake it. Hazel’s eyes flitted down to Piper’s arm, the very edge of the tattoo showing under her blouse. 

“Well! I’m going to go back to work now, It was wonderful meeting you,” Piper strode away from the group, heading back to her dark closet.

______________

The next hour passed in agony. Piper had rolled up her sleeve, as she did paperwork, and her eyes kept flitting down to where her arm read _JASON GRACE_. After the tenth time in two minutes she just groaned and let her head drop.

There was a knock on the door, her head jerked up to see Jason standing in her doorway. 

“Hey, do you want my super villain monologue now?” He asked, tucking his hands into his pockets, her name emblazoned on his arm. She rubbed her own arm, and smiled up at him. 

“Not particularly? Octavian is a douchebag, I’m sure he deserved it,” she rubbed her hands together, searching for the words to say. 

“Can I-” Jason pointed down at the seat in front of him, and Piper nodded. Normally the seat was filled with victims, it was weird to see someone so comfortable in their own skin and unafraid of anything to be sitting there. Although the blackeye was sadly commonplace. 

“So um, sorry for name dropping your dad. I get that you don’t like him very much,” Piper frowned. 

“Well the way I see it is my mom at least waited a few years before abandoning me. I always wondered what name my soulmate would get on their arm,” he gestured towards her tattoo and she looked at it again. 

“Grace huh? Why didn’t you and Thalia change it after you guys got emancipated?” She’d heard loads about Thalia Grace, mainly through Annabeth who knew her from long before Piper had ever stepped foot on Camp Half grounds. 

“We were living off of the money awarded to us in the settlement, my mom’s money. It just made sense to keep her name,” he shrugged, and another loaded pause settled between them.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

“Wanna go on a date?”

They both spoke at the same time, and then sat back, looking at each other for a second. 

“A date?” Jason asked, knowing full well as she did that dates were for people with no names on their arms. 

“I was planning on asking you out as soon as I met you. I figured I’d keep my promise.” She looked at the clock, “besides I have to stay here til 6 am.”

He looked up at the clock before smiling widely and looking back at her, “yeah, a date would be great. I’ll pick you up at 7?”

“Tonight?” She asked, running through her mental schedule. 

“No 7 Am. People usually go on dates right after work right?” Jason’s smile was earnest and she wanted to leap over the table and kiss him until they both died from lack of oxygen. 

“Uh-”

“Unless you’d be too tired-”

“Ms. McLean?” A woman said from the doorway, eyes flitting between Piper and Jason. 

“Bye Jason, I’ll see you at 7 am,” Piper stood up and gestured towards the open chair. Jason took his cue and fled the room.

______________

“‘Bye Jason I’ll see you at 7’- Fucking idiot!” Piper shouted at 6:30 in the morning, as Annabeth blearily nodded on Piper’s bed, a bruise gracing the curve of her jaw. “‘Oh please Jason, let’s hang out when I’m sleepy and gross!’”

“You’re always sleepy and gross-” Leo said from the hall. 

“Go away Leo!” Piper flung a shirt at the doorway as Leo ducked away cackling. 

“Don’t listen to him, you’re beautiful and flawless.” Annabeth said dutifully but truthfully. 

“Agh! What do you know, you started frenching with your soulmate immediately-”

“Yeah she did-” Percy started, apparently following Leo to the living room. 

“Oh my gods! Leave me alone!” Piper flung another shirt at Percy who ducked his head in the doorway. 

“You need to calm down and stop throwing your wardrobe at the boys.”

“What I need to do is get new roommates- not you obviously. But Dumb and Dumber need to go.”

“Hey Dumb- I’m assuming he’s Dumb and not Dumber- doesn’t technically live here.” 

“He paid a 1/4th of rent last month and the both of them weren’t even here. Let’s embrace it. Percy is our fourth roommate. Also he’s dumber. Leo went to MIT and he’s also my main ho.” 

“Can I take this moment to point out that it’s deeply unsettling that you each call each other main hos.” 

Piper shut the door before pulling off her work clothes and pulling on shorts and a button up sleeveless shirt, “don’t be jealous Annabeth.”

“Leo set MIT on fire. He should be Dumber.” 

“Leo sets everything on fire once, it’s how he shows a place he loves it.” 

Piper spun around, showing off the outfit. 

“It’s very Piper,” Annabeth smiled from the bed, “casually beautiful without trying.”

“What am I doing- who asks their soulmate out on a date!” Piper groaned again, “you always just go- be soulmates.”

“I don’t know, I mean technically most people, when they find their soulmates, they go for a walk or go get food, or go make out in a corner-”

“-like you and Percy-”

“Which to me defines a date. Just because we don’t call it a date doesn’t mean it isn’t one.” 

There was rapid set of knocks on the door, which meant Leo was about to shove the door open. Piper quickly buttoned up her shirt and waited a beat until the door opened a crack and she could see the very edges of curly hair. 

“Jason is here. I’ve asked him to sit in the parlor and have some tea and cookies while we wait for the ladies to grace us with their presence.” 

“We’ll be there in a second, also I’m mildly offended. Tea is in the afternoon not first thing in the morning.”

Leo cackled again, closing the door before leaving them. Piper just frowned before looking at Annabeth. 

“I don’t know what to do now,” Piper said quietly, “I’m so happy but at the same time I’m terrified and I don’t know _why_ ”

“I can’t help you there, what I can tell you is that talking to the other person in this situation will probably help you.” Annabeth smiled gently, “Jason is probably terrified too. But he wouldn’t stop saying last night that he was sad you didn’t get to come to the show.”

“Is it sad that I was sad I couldn’t go because I didn’t get a chance to meet him?” Piper looked at her clock, the lights twisted into a 6:44 shape. “Ugh he’s early too.” 

She grabbed a feather off her dresser, it was a feather her father had sent her as an inside joke a few weeks ago. She braided it into her hair and imagined how happy her dad would be when he found out she found a soulmate. 

“Alright let’s do this.” 

The boys were crowded onto one couch, Jason watching as Leo and Percy shot at each other in a videogame. Jason’s eyes flitted to her doorway, before he turned and faced her again. He stood up, his eyes lighting up like the 4th of july. 

“Hey,” he shoved his hands back into his pockets and rocked on his heels. His hair was parted perfectly and his socks matched, he was entirely too adorable in person, her heart was already clenching in her chest. 

“Hey,” she wasn’t sure if she should go hold his hand or if she should give into the overwhelming urge to drag him back into her room. 

“Ready to go?” He gestured towards the door. 

Piper just nodded, stepping over to the shoe rack to pull on her sandals. His hand rested in the small of her back as she stepped out of the door. 

“I’m sorry to show up early, but we have to get there before they open,” Jason lead her outside, to where a beat up motorbike was parked near the curb. 

“You have a motorcycle?” Piper asked incredulously, it was covered in spikes and it gleamed. 

“No, my sister came to see us perform last night. She’s letting me borrow it so we don’t get stuck in traffic.” He handed her a helmet and she pulled it on, her eyes flitting between the bike and him. 

He looked so right yet so wrong on the bike. He knew exactly where to put his hands and looked more comfortable straddling the bike then most people looked walking. But he looked like he belonged in a letterman’s jacket driving a convertible, not a bike that looked like it belonged to a biker gang. 

She held on, clutching his stomach and relishing the feel of having him in her arms. Being close to him was like getting relief from a headache she hadn’t even noticed, the persistent ache was replaced with a warm tingle, like lightning running through her body. 

He was quick to cross the city, but she noticed he never rode the shoulder or split lanes. She bet that if she could see the speedometer he’d be exactly the speed limit or one mile per hour below. 

The ride somehow took too long without taking enough time. She wanted to spend forever riding with her arms around his waist but she also wanted to see what was next. 

“The planetarium?” She looked at Jason as he took the helmet from her, his fingers brushing against hers, sending lightening up her arm.

“Yeah, they open soon so we have to move quickly,” Jason grabbed her hand, the guitar callouses feeling oddly comforting. He tugged her to where a bored looking security guard was drinking red juice and texting, “thanks man.” 

He nodded, popping a bubble before pushing open the door, Jason handed him what looked like a few bills and a packet of kool aid, “Are you sure it’s okay?” 

“Sure, you have 30 minutes,” Jason lead piper down the hall as the boy shouted after them “no sex!” 

Piper caught the instant blush that burst on Jason’s face. He stammered as he looked at her “I wasn't expecting-” 

Piper smiled, “it's okay,” she clenched his hand reassuringly.

“Here we are,” Jason led her into the domed room, the lights already playing across the ceiling, “a couple weeks ago you mentioned that you missed a meteor shower because you couldn't get out of work and well-” he gestured to the room. 

“You remembered that?” She asked, sliding into a seat as he followed. 

“Yeah, we were performing in Boston and you were going to come see us and then drive out to the cape to see it better.” He looked up at the ceiling where the lights played. 

“I was going to ask you to come with me,” she confessed, she hadn't even told Leo and Annabeth that. 

“Really?” He seemed shocked, like he didn't own a mirror or could hear himself talk. 

“Yeah, well,” she looked up at the comets shooting across the ceiling, “my dad never met his soulmate and I've spent all this time waiting for my soulmate, and then Leo starts making me talk to his band mate whenever he gets bored and he's talented, funny, smart and I just thought I could wait around for someone who might never show up, or I could live my life.” 

“I would've said yes,” Jason’s fingers nervously tapped the armrest, “I probably shouldn't tell you this but I hate the idea of soulmates.” 

“Because of your parents?” She threaded her fingers through his and he settled into the chair.

“I hate the lack of choice. Here's this person and now they’re your world. If they're unhappy, you'll be unhappy and you'll spend the rest of your life revolving around them and you have absolutely no say.” He frowned, “the TVs and movies make it seem so glamorous but I bet you're busy more often than not trying to convince women to leave their soulmates.” 

“There's quite a few men too.” Piper tugged his arm, pulling it around her shoulders, “it's eery because I agree completely, I feel like I shouldn't be be agreeing with my soulmate about how soulmates are a flawed system.”

“Probably not, but I have an idea,” he shifted to look at her, “let's promise that if it's not working that we’ll talk about it.” 

“Oh definitely,” she smiled up at him, “but I did choose you. I was ready to jump your bones before your name showed up on my arm.” 

“So I'm stuck with you?” In the faint light she could see his smile hitch up. 

“For the foreseeable future.” She patted the hand resting on her shoulder “I've never wanted to make a flawed system work for me so hard as I do now and I want to be a public attorney.” 

Jason laughed, tugging her in close. She shifted, pulling him down to kiss her, wiping the laughter away but not the smile. She’d been looking forward to her first kiss with her mate her entire life. She’d spent days as a child daydreaming about it. She never imagined that the persistent pull towards him would settle and calm down as she kissed him. She never thought that kissing her soulmate would be like slipping into a warm bath after a long day. She just felt so much _better_ kissing him. At the same time she felt electrified, the little charges and sparks she’d felt all night centering somewhere deep inside her.

“Hmm, lightning.” She said with a grin as they pulled apart, before sinking back into her chair to look up at the stars. 

A beat passed, and his arm wrapped around her, tugging her into his lap, she squealed, settling her legs on either side of his hips, it should’ve been uncomfortable but she was sitting in the lap of her hot soulmate so she could care less. The hand that wasn’t wrapped around her waist threaded through her hair and pulled her down into a kiss that had her arching in his lap. 

When she came up for air, all she could see was the scar on his lip because she couldn’t stop staring. 

“Do you think Dakota would be okay if we made out a little?” The corner of Jason’s mouth hitched up and Piper wanted to spend the rest of her life seeing that. 

“I think he’ll live,” she smiled, running her fingers through her hair as the stars reflected off his eyes, “It’s definitely worth risking.”

____________

“So? What happened next?” Annabeth asked, her foot bouncing against the bar, both their eyes kept flitting to the stage where the band were setting up.

“Well we went to grab some food, but I couldn't stop yawning, so I convinced him to take me back to his place-” 

Annabeth just raised an eyebrow, Piper pretended not to notice.

“-and I mean I thought our place was small! He basically had a futon and a few shelves, and what passed for a kitchen in a dorm building. Seriously. It made me really appreciate our place. So we passed out for a few hours, grabbed dinner with his sister and came to jersey city so I could see him play.” She realized what she said and scrambled to sound less judgmental “not that there's anything wrong with his place-”

“It's just very broke recent college student who has three jobs and is trying to make it in a band?” Annabeth always knew exactly what to say. 

“Yeah, right. I mean I wanted to be alone but I think I'm going to convince him to be our 5th roommate - we need to find a bigger place, what if Leo gets bonded next week? We still have five months left on the lease-” Piper rubbed her neck as she considered it. 

“What's that on your neck?” Annabeth asked, arching an eyebrow. The subtle thing would've been denying it not grabbing it the bruise and blushing. “So you just slept?” 

Piper blushed as she thought about just a few hours earlier when she sat up in his bed and looked in the bathroom mirror at the line of hickeys Jason had peppered on her neck. How she'd teased him until he pulled her down to give her more. 

“Let's just say that we learned from the great Percy/Annabeth condom disaster and we both happened to have condoms on us-” at Annabeth’s grin Piper continued “neither of us have any condoms anymore.” 

Annabeth shook her head, grinning as piper chuckled. “Glad my misery helped you.” 

“The funny thing is I think I took mine from you as he took his from Percy so in a way-” 

“Piper?” 

Piper shifted in her seat and the smile dropped off her face. “Drew.” 

“Oh hey girl, what brings you to Jersey City?” Drew’s commitment to being frenemies was staggering. 

“I haven't gotten a chance to see _Demi_ yet.” Piper wasn't a mean and spiteful person, but even nice people could be assholes sometimes, she lifted to point at the stage with her dominant hand. She watched with unbridled joy as Drew noticed what was on her arm. Shock turned to anger and as Drew opened her mouth to say something, Jason appeared. 

“Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know that Thalia offered to let you guys bike back to Brooklyn with her crew tonight- if that's better than sitting in the back of Argo on amps.” He curled a proprietary arm around Piper’s waist and drew’s look of anger turned to one of horror.

“No, the van is fine, I thought Thalia’s crew were headed out of town?” Piper couldn't help but reach out and smooth out his shirt, his hickeys -her method of retribution- poking above the neckline.

“They delayed because she wanted to meet you, and we typically have a goodbye breakfast - you on board for that?” Piper just nodded, she liked the angry at the world girl who looked like the exact opposite of Jason. They were so similar yet miles different. Being around them made her wish she had more than a distant half sister.

“Awesome,” he kissed her cheek before noticing that Drew was there “-oh hey-” 

“Drew,” piper supplied helpfully. 

“Drew, thanks for coming out. I gotta go!” Jason rushed up to the stage where Leo was waving wildly at him for their pre-show huddle.

Piper couldn't have planned it better if she was spiteful enough to try. She smiled, leaning on the bar as she looked at Drew. 

If a human being could be a cartoonish teapot, that's what Drew was. Piper could all but visualize the steam coming out of her ears. 

“It was nice seeing you Drew, enjoy the show!” Drew had nothing to say to that instead she stormed off, leaving a grinning Piper and an Annabeth rolling her eyes. “I'm not going to lie that was pretty awesome.” 

“I don't even understand why you joined a-” 

“Hello Jersey City!” Annabeth turned in her seat as Percy did his usual pre-show introductions. 

Piper, who had been waiting months to see _Demi_ live, sat up in her chair and waved to Jason who was biting down on his pick and situating his guitar. Seamlessly he waved and grabbed the pick, strumming the guitar to life as Leo and Hazel joined in. 

With her breath caught in her throat, she watched.

**Author's Note:**

> This one was the hardest one to write so far. I had so many _ideas_ for Hazel/Frank and Calypso/Leo. That I was like "BUT WHAT ABOUT JASON AND PIPER!" I wanted to go chronologically, although I am really looking forward to the Calypso/Leo story. 
> 
> Anyways, since I'm horrible at naming things I've decided to take a stab at following a "let's bastardize lyrics to make titles!" theme. "Voice on the Radio" was because I don't have enough balls to call it "Sex on the Radio" by the Kongos. The series title is from the song "What a difference a day makes" which I found fitting as it's a bunch of Soulmates meeting each other. This title is taken from "The Shock of Lightning" by Oasis, mostly because it fits annoyingly well. Damn you Oasis!


End file.
